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IUCI i : I ■ 1 r y 





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the « >!•■ l- 

 the ripe fruit op< as bj valves at 1 1 >• - point 

 The placenl this Oi 



ntially different from thai which 

 plants. The notion of De Candolle and otli that in < 



pellai an not curved inwards, but outwards, their midrib beinj 



n. . i circumference, ol the fruit. This \i' " has lati I) be< n ad* 



/ ad elsewhere : and w ems t'. lia ■ 



the peculiar appearance of such fruits as tht Cucumber when cut 

 which case the placentae do certainly 

 appear as it thej were <-iit of thi ir 

 dinary position ; but it the fruit of tl 

 plants i- examined early enough it i- 

 evident that the illusion arises from 

 .". parietal placentae, with revolute * 



ig edges projecting forward into 

 tin' cavity, where the) adhere. In the 

 garden Cucumber, for example, when 

 naif an inch long, th< placenta ictl) 



a~ in this cut, m i w iii. fig. I >and have no 

 adhesion. There i>, therefore, no ground 

 for regarding the Cucurbit true- 



tore it variance with general rules 

 There i-. however, a great peculiarity in 

 tin- fruit of -...nil- ..I' them, such a- Luffn 

 fostida, which, when ripe, ap] ears t" 

 mst ■ >!' horizontal fibres forming a singu 

 In- entangled mass ; these an visible in 

 the young ovary in the form "t - 

 transparent concentrical lines which I 

 .i somewhat perpendicular direction in 

 ill'- placentae ; thus apparently proving 

 that pari i" I'.' a portion of the carpellar) 

 leaves and nd an independent pan 

 of the axi S bleiden's theory would Jhh 



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N lives <'\ hot countries in both In- .* 



mispheres, chiefly within the tropics; a \"' 



few are found to the north in Europe and ., 



North America, and Beveral are natives ' 



of the Cape of G 1 Hope. India appears 



to be their Eavouriti station ; a good 



man) occur in Peru and Brazil, but an 



little known ; one is found in Norfolk 



Island, and they are met with in Australia. 



Those which are annuals readily Bubmit to the 



the summer, and hence, although mostly of tropical ori 



pi an gardens. 



I borrow the following account of 1 1 1« - prop* rties ol th< - 



dona and additions, from Dr. Wight's very useful IUu 



Although we best know the Cucurbits by their us 



t ucumber, Vegetable Marrow, and similar plant- being the >•• 



mony and a drastic tendency pervade many species, th< ft 



cathartics of remarkable power, acting, in even small doses, will 



the whoh hue of the alimentary canal Generally 



power is if rare occurrence, though the proper!} is found mot 



part of the plant ; mildly in the roots of Borne and the 



others, but in greatest intensity in the pulp surroundii 



do not partake of the property, being, in near!) all, mild 



believe that some at least, if not all the i dibl 



properties to cultivation, for Borne in the wild 



activity, [lie Lagenaria vulgaris, r Bottle Gourd, n 



it being recorded that some sailors wei 



standing in a flask mad< of one of those '< writ ; ■ '• 



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V 



i 



i i \ \ 



climat ol u irtiii i 



in, tli< \ are common ! 



CC win -l a section ofa \ 

 ■.no at :> period subsequent I I the fruit. 



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